Abducted Seaford woman, children found in Milford

A Delaware City man is facing kidnapping charges after he forced his estranged girlfriend and her two young children from their Seaford home and took them to a Milford motel, according to police.

By Scott Goss

A Delaware City man is facing kidnapping charges after he forced his estranged girlfriend and her two young children from their Seaford home and took them to a Milford motel, according to police.

State police found 22-year-old Clifford W. David Jr. and his kidnapping victims in a room at the Travelers Inn Motel on North Walnut Street.

State troopers and officers from the Milford Police Department gained access to the motel room and took David into custody without incident.

The 22-year-old woman and her children – a 3-year-old girl and a 8-month-old girl – were unharmed, Although police later determined that the woman had been assaulted earlier in the day, she reportedly did not require medical.

According to Delaware State Police spokesman Master Cpl. Gary Fournier, state police first began looking for the woman and her children just before 11 a.m. after relatives who live next door to the family reported that they were missing and their house was in disarray.

Responding troopers found signs that a struggle had occurred in the family’s house in the 20000 block of Atlanta Road, north of Seaford, including blood on the floor and appliances, as well as holes in the walls and broken chairs, he said.

Troopers also found the woman’s cell phone and wallet in the house.

Through their investigation, police learned the victim had been involved in a volatile relationship with David, the father of the 8-month-old girl.

Tips from friends of the woman led police to look for David at the Milford motel about 1:30 p.m. Fournier said officers made repeated attempts to have David exit the room before using a key obtained from a motel manager to gain entry.

David is charged with kidnapping, burglary, assault, endangering the welfare of a child, resisting arrest and criminal mischief.

He is being held at the Sussex Correctional Institute on a $103,100 cash bail, Fournier said.